Edge-iron.



SAMUEL R. BAILEY, OF AMESBURY, MASSACHUSETTS.

EDGE-IRON.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 19, 1905.

Application tied December 8,1904. serial No. 235,926.

T (LZZ whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, SAMUEL R. BAILEY, of Amesbury, county of Essex, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Edge-Irons, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like characters on the drawings representing like parts.

In that class of carriages having what is known as piano-box bodies the joints at the corners of the body are strengthened and the upper edges of the sides are protected by angle-irons which are secured to said upper edges over and at each side of the joint. It has been customary to form these angle-irons of solid half-round material and to secure them to the edges of the body by means of ordinary wood-screws. This form of angleiron and method of connection is objectionable for various reasons principally because the wood-screws which are employed to secure the iron in place cannot be filled or covered with paint or putty, so that they will not be cause of the size and the necessary countersinking of the screw-holes which must be made in the iron, and thus greatly weaken it. It is furthermore customary to protect the upper edge of the body between the seat and the dashboard by securing thereto a strip of half-round iron similar to that employed for the angle-iron before described, and as the edge of such connecting strip must abut against the end of the angle-iron and as it is diicult to secure such extension-strips in perfect alinement therewith an unsightly joint is oft-en formed at the abutting-point.

The object of my invention is to provide an improved form of angle-iron and protectingstrip which may be readily and securely at` tached without materially weakening the same to the upper edge of the body by nails and which when applied leaves no unsightly joints or nail-marks, s0 that after the iron is painted and varnished the iron, nails, -and body will make a smooth continuous surface without visible break.

Afurther object is to produce a form of angle-iron which is less expensive than the half-round kind above referred to.

I accomplish these objects by the means shown in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a plan View of the corner of a carriage-body provided with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation'thereof, partly in section. Fig. 3 is a sectional view through the side of the body, showing one of the steps in the process of applying the iron. Fig. 4 is a section on line L 4 of Fig. 1. Figs. 5 and 6 are detail cross-section and plan views of a portion of the iron, and Fig. 7 is a sectional view illustrating a modification. section on line 8 8 of Fig. 3. Fig. 9 is a section of a modied form of iron.

The upper edges of the sides .c a of the carriage-body are made half round or convex transversely, as shown. The angle-iron is made of a strip of thin sheet metal pressed into a half-round form transversely, as shown in Fig. 4, the curve of the under surface of said iron corresponding to the curve of the upper edge of the body, so that the one may lit upon the other. A series of oblong rectangularly-shaped apertures b' are formed at suitable intervals in the middle of the strip, the length of said apertures being approximately twice the width thereof and the side edges thereof being parallel to the sides of the strip. Said apertures are formed by punching in such a manner that the material is cut across the center and along each side of the aperture and is not cut at the ends, so that two integral lips c are formed, which extend obliquely toward each other from the ends of the aperture.

A n ail d of special form is provided, said nail being fiat and of uniform thickness throughout its entire length, including its head, the edges of the head .tapering to the body and the edges of the body tapering to a knife-edge. The head of the nail is so shaped that it fits the apertures t exactly when the nail is placed therein with its face flush with the surface of the. strip, in which position the edges. of the head rest on the adjacent sides of the lips. .If an extension-iron is not employed before the angle-iron is attached to the edge of the body a, the portion of the edge to which the iron is to beattached is cut away to an extent equal to the thickness of the material of which the iron is made, so that when the iron is seated upon the upper edge of the' body its upper surface will be flush and continuous with the edge surface of the sides, as shown in Fig. 3.

In attaching the angle-iron to the body I employ a hammer or die e of a shape corresponding to the shape of the iron and having a groove in its face corresponding to the shape of the upper surface of the iron. A series of at and pointed projections f are formed on Fig. 8 is ai IOO said die midway of said groove and arranged correspondingly to the apertures in said strip. The shape of said projection f is precisely the same as that of the nail CZ, except that the edges thereof converge to a knifeedge.

In attaching the angle-iron it is first placed in position upon the body (t, so that the ends of the lips c will rest thereon and support it, and then the die e is placed thereon, its projectionsf passing through apertures and entering the wood. The die is then driven downwardly, causing its projectionsf to make a series of indentations in the wood and also forcing the lips c therein until the bottom of the iron rests on the edge of the sides a, as shown in Fig. 3. The pointed end of a nail Z is then placed in the bottom of each recess thus formed and is driven vertically into the body until the face of its head iills the aper-l ture and is flush with the surface of the iron, in which position the edges of the head will firmly engage the adjacent sides of the lips c, so that the latter will be iirmly clamped between the wood of the side and the edges of the nail, thus securely connecting the strip to the edge of the side to, so that it will be impossible to remove the strip without removing the nail. The other nails secure the strip in like manner and with like effect. The sides of the nails engage the sides of the apertures Z2 and the half-round formation of the iron, and the lips c, as Well as the nails, materially aid in preventing transverse movement of the iron upon the sides of the body. As the apertures L are very narrow, they do not weaken the iron to a material extent, but little of the material being cut away therefrom transversely, and when the iron has been secured as above described and has been painted and varnished the apertures will be practically indiscernible. As shown in Figs. l and 2, an edge-protecting extension b2 may be similarly connected to the side a, its end being butted against the end of the iron and as these ends will be exactly alined by reason of the half-round formation of the strip and edge of the side the break between the angle-iron and strip will be scarcely discernible When finished.

In Fig. 7 I illustrate a modified form of my invention, in which the aperture in the iron is formed by cutting the material away at the sides and one end of the hole, so that a single lip c' will be turned down. In this instance one edge of the nail-head and body CZ' will be made perpendicular to the face ofthe I head, and the other edge will extend obliquely, according to the inclination of the lip c, until it meets the perpendicular edge.

My invention may also be applied to a iiat protecting strip or iron 6, as shown in Fig. 9, as well as to the transversely-curved form already described, although the latter is preferable for many reasons.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. An edge-protecting iron consisting of a metal strip having an oblong aperture therein extending longitudinally thereof, a lip integrally connected to said strip at one end of said aperture, in combination with an attaching-nail adapted to fit said aperture at the face of its head, and to bea'r against said lip at one edge, substantially as described.

2. An edge-protecting iron composed of a metal strip having an oblong-shaped aperture therein extending longitudinally in the middle thereof, and a pair of converging lips integrally connected to said strip at each end of said aperture, in combination with an attaching-nail adapted to fit said aperture at the face of its head, and to engage the sides of said lips at the edges of its head, substantially as described.

3. An edge-protecting strip composed of a metal strip, having an oblong, rectangularlyshaped aperture therein extending longitudinally in the middle thereof, and a pair of converging lips integrally connected to said strip at each end of said aperture, substantially as described.

4:. An edge-protecting strip composed of a metal strip, having an oblong, rectangularlyshaped aperture therein extending longitudinally in the middlethereof, and a pair of converging lips integrally connected to said strip at each end of said aperture, in combination with an attaching-nail of approximately uniform thickness adapted to fit said aperture at the face of its head, the edges of said head converging' and being adapted to engage the side of said lips, substantially as described.

In testimony whereofI have signed my name to this speciiication in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

SAMUEL R. BAILEY.

IOO 

